Experimental studies of extraordinary light transmission through periodic arrays of subwavelength square and rectangular holes in metal films

We fabricate a series of periodic arrays of subwavelength square and rectangular air holes on gold films, and measure the transmission spectra of these metallic nanostructures. By changing some geometrical and physical parameters, such as array period, air hole size and shape, and the incident light polarization, we verify that both global surface plasmon resonance and localized waveguide mode resonance are influential on enhancing the transmission of light through nanostructured metal films. These two resonances induce different behaviours of transmission peak shift. The transmission through the rectangular air-hole structures exhibits an obvious polarization effect dependent on the morphology. Numerical simulations are also made by a plane-wave transfer-matrix method and in good consistency with the experimental results.

Fractal Characteristics and Microstructure Evolution of Magnetron Sputtering Cu Thin Films

How to describe surface morphology characteristic and microstructure evolution are the hottest researches of current thin film researches. But in traditional characterization of surface morphology, the roughness parameters are scale related. And the microstructure evolution of thin film during post-treatment is usually not considered in detail, To give a better understanding of the roughness of thin films topography, fractal method is carried out. In addition, microstrueture evolution of thin films is analyzed based on the crystallography and energy theory. Cu thin films are deposited on Si （100） substrates by magnetron sputtering, and then annealed at different temperatures. Surface topography is characterized by atomic force microscope （AFM）. Triangular prism surface area （TPSA） algorithm is used to calculate the fractal dimension of the AFM images. Apparent scale effect exists between the surface morphology roughness and film thickness. Relationship between the fractal dimension and roughness is analyzed by linear regression method and linear relationship exists between fractal dimension and surface roughness root mean square （RMS）. Fractal dimension can be characterized as a scale independence parameter to represent the complex degree and roughness level of surface. With the increase of annealing temperature, surface roughness and fractal dimension decrease. But when the annealing temperature exceeds the recrystallization temperature, due to the agglomeration and coalescence of Cu grain, surface roughness and fractal dimension increase. Scale effect and changing regularity of grain growth and shape evolution for different film thickness under different annealing temperatures are analyzed. Based on minimum total free energy, regularity of grain growth and changing is proposed. The proposed research has some theory significance and applicative value of Cu interconnect process and development of MEMS.

Surface plasmon-polaritons on ultrathin metal films

We discuss the surface plasmon-polaritons used for ultrathin metal films with the aid of linear response theory and make comparisons with the known result given by Economou E N. In this paper we consider transverse electromagnetic fields and assume that the electromagnetic field in the linear response formula is the induced field due to the current of the electrons. It satisfies the Maxwell equation and thus we replace the current （charge） term in the Maxwell equation with the linear response expectation value. Finally, taking the external field to be zero, we obtain the dispersion relation of the surface plasmons from the eigenvalue equation. In addition, the charge-density and current-density in the z direction on the surface of ultrathin metal films are also calculated. The results may be helpful to the fundamental understanding of the complex phenomenon of surface plasmon-polaritons.

Formation and Characterization of Pd,Pt and Pd-Pt Alloy Films on Polyimide by Catalyst-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition

Platinum, palladium and their alloy films on polyimide were formed by catalyst-enhanced chemical vapor deposition （CVD） in the carrier gas （N2, O2） at 220-300℃ under reduced pressure and normal pressure. The deposition of palladium complexes [ Pd（（η3-allyl）（hfac） and Pd（hfac）2 ] gives pure palladium film, while the deposition of platinum needs the enhancement of palladium complex by mixing precursor platinum complex Pt（COD）Me2 and palladium complex in the same chamber. The co-deposition of Pd and Pt metals was used for the deposition of alloy films. During the CVD of palladium-platinum alloy, the Pd/Pt atomic ratios vary under different co-deposition conditions. These metal films were characterized by XPS and SEM, and show a good adhesive property.

Partial electrical potential distribution around nanospheres in metallic nanostructured films

In light of the nanostructured surface model, where half-spherical nanoparticles grow out symmetrically from a plane metallic film, the mathematical model for the partial electrical potential around nanospheres is developed when a uniform external electric field is applied. On the basis of these models, the three-dimensional spatial distribution of the partial electrical potential is obtained and given in the form of a curved surface using a numerical computation method. Our results show that the electrical potential distribution around the nanospheres exhibits an obvious geometrical symmetry. These results could serve as a reference for investigating many abnormal phenomena such as abnormal infrared effects, which are found when CO molecules are adsorbed on the surface of nanostructured transition metals.

THE MECHANISM OF SURFACE METALLIZATION OF POLYVINYL ALCOHOL COMPLEX METAL CHELATE FILMS

A novel method for preparing metalllzed film has been studied.The reduction process and properties of the poly(vinyl alcohol)(PVA)were probed by several analytic means.According to the etudies,a mechanism for the polymer surface reduction metallization was proposed and proved.

Competing failure mechanisms of thin metal films on polymer substrates under tension

The ductility of thin metal films on polymer substrates reported in recent experiments has a huge disparity,ranging from less than 1 % up to more than 50 %.To reveal the underpinning origins for such a large variation,this paper reports a systematic computational study of two competing failure mechanisms:metal film necking and grain boundary cracking.The quantitative results suggest that strong grain boundaries and metal/polymer interfacial adhesion are keys to achieve high ductility of polymer-supported metal films.

Growth of a-Plane GaN Films on r-Plane Sapphire by Combining Metal Organic Vapor Phase Epitaxy with the Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy

Hydride vapor phase epitaxy （HVPE） is utilized to grow nonpolar a-plane GaN layers on r-plane sapphire templates prepared by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy （MOVPE）. The surface morphology and microstructures of the samples are characterized by atomic force microscopy. The full width at half maximum （FWHM） of the HVPE sample shows a W-shape and that of the MOVPE sample shows an M-shape plane with the degree of 0 in the high-resolution x-ray diffraction （HRXRD） results. The surface morphology attributes to this significant anisotropic. HRXRD reveals that there is a significant reduction in the FWHM, both on-axis and off-axis for HVPE GaN are compared with the MOVPE template. The decrease of the FWHM of E2 （high） Raman scat tering spectra further indicates the improvement of crystal quality after HVPE. By comparing the results of secondary- ion-mass spectroscope and photoluminescence spectrum of the samples grown by HVPE and MOVPE, we propose that C-involved defects are originally responsible for the yellow luminescence.

Low-temperature ferromagnetism in tensile-strained LaCoO_(2.5)thin film

The origin of ferromagnetism in epitaxial strained LaCoO_(3-x)films has long been controversial.Here,we investigated the magnetic behavior of a series of oxygen vacancy-ordered LaCoO_(3-x)films on different substrates.Obvious ferromagnetism was observed in perovskite LaCoO_(3)/LSAT(LSAT=(LaAlO_(3))0.3(SrAlTaO_(6))_(0.7))and LaCoO_(3)/SrTiO_(3) films,while LaCoO_(3)/LaAlO_(3)films showed weak ferromagnetic behavior.Meanwhile,LaCoO_(2.67) films exhibited antiferromagnetic behavior.An unexpected low-temperature ferromagnetic phenomenon with a Curie temperature of~83 K and a saturation magnetization of~1.2μB/Co was discovered in 15 nm thick LaCoO_(2.5)/LSAT thin films,which is probably related to the change in the interface CoO_(6) octahedron rotation pattern.Meanwhile,the observed ferromagnetism gradually disappeared as the thickness of the film increased,indicating a relaxation of tensile strain.Analysis suggests that the rotation and rhombohedral distortion of the CoO_(6) octahedron weakened the crystal field splitting and promoted the generation of the ordered high-spin state of Co^(2+).Thus the super-exchange effect between Co^(2+)(high spin state),Co^(2+)(low spin state)and Co^(2+)(high spin state)produced a low-temperature ferromagnetic behavior.However,compressive-strained LaCoO_(2.5)film on a LaAlO_(3)substrate showed normal anti-ferromagnetic behavior.These results demonstrate that both oxygen vacancies and tensile strain are correlated with the emergent magnetic properties in epitaxial LaCoO_(3-x)films and provide a new perspective to regulate the magnetic properties of transition oxide thin films.

AFM Study on Interface of HTHP As-grown Diamond Single Crystal and Metallic Film

The study for the interface of as-grown diamond and metallic film surrounding diamond is an attractive way for understanding diamond growth mechanism at high temperature and high pressure (HTHP), because it is that through the interface carbon atom groups from the molten film are transported to growing diamond surface. It is of great interest to perform atomic force microscopy (AFM) experiment; which provides a unique technique different from that of normal optical and electron microscopy studies, to observe the interface morphology. In the present paper, we report first that the morphologies obtained by AFM on the film are similar to those of corresponding diamond surface, and they are the remaining traces after the carbon groups moving from the film to growing diamond. The fine particles and a terrace structure with homogeneous average step height are respectively found on the diamond (100) and (111) surface. Diamond growth conditions show that its growth rates and the temperature gradients in the boundary layer of the molten film at HTHP result in the differences of surface morphologies on diamond planes, being rough on (100) plane and even on the (111) plane. The diamond growth on the (100) surface at HPHT could be considered as a process of unification of these diamond fine particles or of carbon atom groups recombination on the growing diamond crystal surface. Successive growth layer steps directly suggest the layer growth mechanism of the diamond (111) plane. The sources of the layer steps might be two-dimensional nuclei and dislocations.

Plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition of Co using Co(MeCp)_2 precursor

Cobalt （Co） thermal or plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition （PE-ALD） was investigated using a novel metal organic precursor, Co（MeCp）2, and NH3 or H2 or their plasma as a reactant. The growth characteristics, electrical and microstructural properties were investigated. Especially, PE-ALD produced Co thin films at low growth temperature down to 100℃. Interestingly, the low temperature growth of Co films showed the formation of columnar structure at substrate temperature below 300℃. The growth characteristics and films properties of PE-ALD Co using bis（η-methylcyclopentadienyl） Co（II） （Co（MeCp）2） was compared with those of PE-ALD Co using other Cp based metal organic precursors, bis-cyclopentadienyl cobalt （II） （CoCp2） and cyclopentadienyl isopropyl acetamidinato-cobalt （Co（CpAMD））.

Dispersion compensation for an ultrathin metal film using LCD-CCD system

A dispersion compensation method is introduced to correct the distorted image passing through an ultrathin metal film.An LCD-CCD system is modeled by the back propagation network and used to evaluate the transmittance of the ultrathin metal film.Training samples for the network come from 729 images captured by shooting test patches,in which the RGB values are uniformity distributed between 0 and 255.The RGB value of the original image that will be distorted by the dispersion is first transformed by mapping from the LCD to the CCD,multiplied by the inverse matrix of the transmittance matrix,and finally transformed by mapping from the CCD to the LCD,then the corrected image is obtained.In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method,ultrathin aluminum films with different thicknesses are evaporated on glass substrates and laid between the CCD and LCD.Experimental results show that the proposed method compensates for the dispersion successfully.

STATIONARY DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS ANALYSIS OF NEW SQUEEZED FILM DAMPER

Recur to multi-hole and better elastic characteristics of metal rubber （MR）, a new squeezed film damper with MR （SFD/MR） throttle ring installed on the end of MR and MR damping ring installed on the radial direction of MR is implemented. Based on the D＇alembert principle, a locomotion equation and the mathematical model of stationary response of SFD/MR system is put forward. It proves that the SFD/MR has better ability to resist unbalance loads than the traditional SFD after the stationary dynamic characteristics of the traditional SFD and the new SFD/MR are researched.

Evaluation of Young's Modulus and Residual Stress of NiFe Film by Microbridge Testing

Microbridge testing was used to measure the Young＇s modulus and residual stress of metallic films. Samples of freestanding NiFe film microbridge were fabricated by microelectromechanical systems. Special ceramic shaft structure was designed to solve the problem of getting the load-deflection curve of NiFe film microbridge by the Nanoindenter XP system with normal Berkovich probe. Theoretical analysis of load-deflection curves of the microbridges was proposed to evaluate the Young＇s modulus and residual stress of the films simultaneously. The calculated results based on experimental measurements show that the average Young＇s modulus and residual stress for the electroplated NiFe films are 203.2 GPa and 333.0 MPa, respectively, while the Young＇s modulus measured by the Nano-hardness method is 209.6：1：11.8 GPa for the thick NiFe film with silicon substrate.

Surface Plasmon Interference Lithography Assisted by a Fabry-Perot Cavity Composed of Subwavelength Metal Grating and Thin Metal Film

A surface plasmon interference lithography assisted by a Fabry-Perot （F-P） cavity composed of subwavelength metal gratings and a thin metal fihn is proposed to fabricate high-quality nanopatterns. The calculated results indicate that uniform straight interference fringes with high contrast and high electric-field intensity are formed in the resist under the F-P cavity. The analyses of spatial frequency spectra illuminate the physical mechanism of the formation for the interference fringes. The influence of the F-P cavity spacing is discussed in detail. Moreover, the error analyses reveal that all parameters except the metal grating period in this scheme can bear large tolerances for the device fabrication.

MHD Stability Analysis and Flow Controls of Liquid Metal Free Surface Film Flows as Fusion Reactor PFCs

Numerical and experimental investigation results on the magnetohydrodynamics（MHD） film flows along flat and curved bottom surfaces are summarized in this study. A simplified modeling has been developed to study the liquid metal MHD film state, which has been validated by the existing experimental results. Numerical results on how the inlet velocity（V）, the chute width（W） and the inlet film thickness（d0） affect the MHD film flow state are obtained. MHD stability analysis results are also provided in this study. The results show that strong magnetic fields make the stable V decrease several times compared to the case with no magnetic field,especially small radial magnetic fields（Bn） will have a significant impact on the MHD film flow state. Based on the above numerical and MHD stability analysis results flow control methods are proposed for flat and curved MHD film flows. For curved film flow we firstly proposed a new multi-layers MHD film flow system with a solid metal mesh to get the stable MHD film flows along the curved bottom surface. Experiments on flat and curved MHD film flows are also carried out and some firstly observed results are achieved.

Aligned carbon nanostructures based 3D electrodes for energy storage

Electrochemical energy storage systems with high specific energy and power as well as long cyclic stability attract increasing attention in new energy technologies. The principles for rational design of electrodes are discussed to reduce the activation, concentration, and resistance overpotentials and improve the active ma- terial efficiency in order to simultaneously achieve high specific energy and power. Three dimensional （3D） nanocomposites are currently considered as promising electrode materials due to their large surface area, reduced electronic and ionic diffusion distances, and synergistic effects. This paper reviews the most recent progress on the synthesis and application of 3D thin film nanoelectrode arrays based on aligned carbon nan- otubes （ACNTs） directly grown on metal foils for energy storages and special attentions are paid on our own representative works. These novel 3D nanoelectrode arrays on metal foil exhibit improved electrochemical performances in terms of specific energy, specific power and cyclic stability due to their unique structures. In this active materials coated ACNTs over conductive substrate structures, each component is tailored to address a different demand. The electrochemical active material is used to store energy, while the ACNTs are employed to provide a large surface area to support the active material and nanocable arrays to facilitate the electron transport. The thin film of active materials can not only reduce ion transport resistance by shorten- ing the diffusion length but also make the film elastic enough to tolerate significant volume changes during charge and discharge cycles. The conductive substrate is used as the current collector and the direct contact of the ACNT arrays with the substrate reduces significantly the contact resistance. The principles obtained from ACNT based electrodes are extended to aligned graphene based electrodes. Similar improvements have been achieved which confirms the reliability of the principles obtained. In addition, we also discuss and view the ongoing trends in development of aligned carbon nanostructures based electrodes for energy storage.

Light focusing in linear arranged symmetric nanoparticle trimer on metal film system

Benefiting from the induced image charge on film surface,the nanoparticle aggregating on metal exhibits interesting optical properties.In this work,a linear metal nanoparticle trimer on metal film system has been investigated to explore the novel optical phenomenon.Both the electric field and surface charge distributions demonstrate the light is focused on film greatly by the nanoparticles at two sides,which could be strongly modulated by the wavelength of incident light.And the influence of nanoparticle in middle on this light focusing ability has also been studied here,which is explained by the plasmon hybridization theory.Our finding about light focusing in nanoparticle aggregating on metal film not only enlarges the novel phenomenon of surface plasmon but also has great application prospect in the field of surface-enhanced spectra,surface catalysis,solar cells,water splitting,etc.

Enhanced optical transmission by V-shaped nanoslit in metal film

In this paper, we reveal that the enhanced transmission through a perforated metal film can be further boosted up by a V-shaped nanoslit, which consists of two connected oblique slits. The maximum transmission at resonance can be enhanced significantly by 71.5% in comparison with the corresponding vertical slit with the same exit width. The value and position of transmission resonance peak strongly depend on the apex angle of the V-shaped slit. The optimum apex angle, at which the transmission is maximal, is sensitive to the slit width. Such phenomena can be well explained by a concrete picture in which the incident wave drives free electrons on the slit walls. Moreover, we also simply analyze the splitting of the transmission peak in the symmetry broken V-shaped slit, originating from the resonances of different parts of the V-shaped slit. We expect that our findings will be used to design the nanoscale light sources based on the metal nanoslit structures.